PHOTO BY SARA HUDEK BOSANAC
Ventisei which is 26 in Italian is just a continuation of more stories adding to the new year. For previous stories & lots of reading, please go to ‘dom’. Please enjoy and thank you for the visit. Hvala lijepa!
Inat
April 2, 2026
Poštovanje & Sretan Uskrs (Happy Easter). May it be nice and spent with a little bit of hope for the world around us. And if the present time is beating you down, go back a little. I spent some time not too long ago donating some things and going through the last 23+ years of my life. Like our neighbour in Croatia, going through her photo album appreciating friends over the years and of course her figure and looks when she was younger, ‘Marijana, pogledaj kako sam bila zgodna’ (Marijana, look at how attractive I was) she would say to me. It really is fun to escape to another time. Many people say you should not live in the past, but forget that noise, I like to go back because it can tell you a lot of things about who you were, make you truly see and feel what you have accomplished because when you are in the moment just doing something or pursuing that goal, you only see the work that needs to be done instead of stopping for a moment. In doing all this of course there were the ‘where was my head at moments’ that I can laugh about & feel good about saying sayonara to; or just the personal moments where you think to yourself, well it is time to let this go. There were things that brought me to tears, in a good way. My parents would can salmon that my father caught and send it to me so I was well fed and looked after. I have these canning jars that remind me of how hard they worked in every way of life. My late father doing the exact same thing going through everything found a trophy I got in elementary school for most inspirational athlete and he sent it to me packing it well with wooden paint stir sticks taped to the outside of the box so it wouldn’t be crushed, my God, even writing this brings tears to my eyes. When he first left Croatia (Yugoslavia), one of his jobs in Paris was being a commercial painter so then you think of him and his life. I feel like I have failed in many moments to understand the weight of many beautiful gestures that I have received. It’s nice to have these things, but some things I don’t think I will ever have the heart to give away; it is a part of who I am and one day I will go back again and relive these things; hopefully sharing some of that with my niece and nephew. And that trophy, instead of leaving it in the box, I took it out and put it on my TV stand because it is means so much more to me than just the trophy itself.
And speaking of trophies and celebrations, I do want to talk about sports. I received a text 2 days ago from a friend in Croatia that Bosnia and Herzegovina is going to the World Cup. This is a very big deal. This small nation and neighbours of Croatia (once a nation together) for the second time in history will go to the FIFA world cup. They beat Italy 4:1 in penalty shots, a great upset for Italy, but a historic moment for Bosnia and Herzegovina since their last time at the FIFA World Cup was 12 years ago. The celebrations were going strong at 3 in the morning with flares, fireworks, people singing & shouting, then losing their voices but experiencing great joy on the streets of Sarajevo, Mostar, Zenica, all around the country plus in Croatia and surrounding nations. There is a large population of Bosnians that live and work in Croatia. To have been through so much tragedy, but then to experience something where your family, friends and neighbours are unified is really powerful. I was in Croatia when Goran Ivanisević won Wimbledon in 2001, and the power of one person, one monumental win sent people jumping into the Adriatic Sea with excitement. I have also attended a Dinamo game in Zagreb which is a Croatian Professional Football (soccer) club. I went with my cousin and there was caution by my aunt, ‘Pazi na Marijanu, huligani su ludi’ (watch out for Marijana, the hooligans are crazy) but national sport pride runs through the veins of its fans and everyday people complemented with some Ožujsko and Karlovaćko pivo (popular Croatian beers). It is something that is lived for outside of the everyday work and routine.
When you find a sport you love, a passion if any, it can make you feel like a kid for life. I read the autobiography of the famous footballer Pele (why soccer matters) and his first soccer ball was not even a traditional soccer ball; as he said ‘a bunch of socks tied together and “borrowed” from the neighbours clotheslines.’ Worldwide people first started listening to games on the radio and as Pele said it was eurphoria when his country won because he loved the country and he loved the sport of football. He said despite the great inequality between the poor and rich, and the large landscape dividing Brazilians, somehow it brought people together and what could be more important than that. When I think about Luka Modrić, the Croatian national football legend, he grew up during a time of unrest in the former Yugoslavia, football was something positive in the face of tragedy, football gave meaning to life and it was shared. So many of these football (soccer) nations were/are not wealthy nations, at least more people lived with very little, faced corruption, great stresses; and so a simple game like soccer is a gift to be divided, something for everyone in different ways.
I do understand why it is the most dominant sport in the world. All you need is a ball; just one ball. I am not happy though that the tickets for a sport that should be for everyone are out of the ballpark in cost for the upcoming World Cup. If I had the money I would invite all those little kids who could not go and put them on the front row so the world could remember what it is all about. This is passing on a beautiful game to future generations because one day we will celebrate for them in the way they may have looked up to others before them. As a side note, I will hope and believe that luck may strike in seeing Croatia play at the World Cup. Just one game, any game with Croatia vs. ?. To be amongst other Croatian’s from around the world plus seeing Luka Modrić play in maybe one of his last big tournaments, and really, supporting the whole national team, it would be something very special. The spirit of celebration and supporting your country is done so well in Croatia, as seen with placements in previous world cups. Croatia gained its independence in 1991 and with a tournament that is every 4 years they have made 6 appearances in the FIFA world cup since then; in that they have had 2 bronze medals and 1 silver medal. That is something special and remember, this is a nation of under 4 million people.
Overtime I have followed interviews and read books about Croatian entrepreneurs, athletes, musicians, writers and there is a common thread. Going back to Luka Modrić, the road to achievement is well rewarded through hard work and persistence. He was told he was too small and no to this and that, it’s a long story, but in an interview I watched with him, he said, if you say I cannot do it, I will just work even harder to be better. Another former Croatian waterpolo player Filip Šašic talked about how a trainer told him that he would not be playing in a waterpolo tournament and when he was told this, a fire ignited in him, he said to himself there is no way he is not going to be in that tournament and trained hard to be in that tournament. There is a word for all this that I recently was gifted of knowing. The term is inat. Inat is a Balkan term, and at the root of it, words that would be connected to it are inner defiance, dignity, and self preservation. If you tell a Balkan person they can’t, stay friends with them so you can witness there is a good chance they will. I remember my dad telling me this story about coming to Canada and building a home. Most immigrants come with little money and so of course a loan is needed to buy or build a home. When my mom realized that 40,000 CDN was not 40,000 dinars (currency of Yugoslavia at the time and of course weaker) she thought oh my God, we will never pay this; but my dad defiant and focused said, as long as I am healthy, we will pay this off; and he did. Inat. I feel like I could keep going on about this but at some point this paragraph has to end, however there is just one more Croatian athlete I would like to add. Vitomir Maričić, a free driver who broke the world record for holding his breath under water for 29 minutes. I have to believe Inat was part of that.
I want to wish you a nice Easter again and I hope it is celebrated in small or simple ways, or in a loud and boisterous way. A few years ago I was flying from Amsterdam to Zagreb and it turns out I was flying with a Croatian European handball team, and when the plane landed in Zagreb they just clapped and cheered. I feel like we need to do this more, when you make it to a destination or halfway to it, just stop, smile and maybe cheer a little because you made it. One destination I wish I would get to sooner is the end of the series of a Turkish Soap opera. No sooner did I talk about it last time, I got a seasonal bug and then escaped into a world of ooh la la.
Take special care and enjoy the spring season.
Marijana
Ljubav i čast
May 4, 2026.
Bada bing its spring. Spring is a very beautiful time of year. It is a painter’s paradise. The wild flowers and blossoms shared with the lush green. And people look so happy. It is really nice to see and feel this. I don’t mind the rain at all, especially the spring and summer rains, but it is the darkness after a while that makes me feel tired. Before going to work it is dark, during work it is light outside, and after work it is dark again during the shorter days of the year. It is all part of life and I really don’t complain much about the weather because it is not something I can control. Today I was watching this seagull floating and moving with whichever direction the wave took it, making ‘going with the flow’ look like a piece of cake. I guess the seagull knows that bird vs Pacific Ocean is not an even match. The Big Kahuna is in charge. But back to darkness, I went to Alaska with 2 friends years ago and on a shuttle bus from Anchorage to Homer was a man coming from the Republic of Congo going to study or work in petroleum technology in a remote and northern part of Alaska. To think about the depth of it all, going from sunlight to darkness for most of the day as this was now fall, but not only that, the cultural difference, the temperature difference, getting there, and on and on. Immigration, emigration and migration is something that is very interesting to me. Ask me about this in high school, it seemed like history class felt like it was 10 days long.
A little bit more about the allure of spring. The other day I noticed a path full of green and maybe three kinds of purple wild flowers. I had a moment and realized the word purple or violet in Croatian is ljubičast. If you split this into two words, ljubav is love and čast is honour; well does purple mean to honour love? I thought, well isn’t that nice. I am not sure if that was really the intention with the colour purple in the Croatian language but I thought about that and was pretty proud of myself for coming up with that first thing in the morning. But spring is really like you are part of film reel showing paradise at its best and you wish that it would never end. But all great things cannot stay the same or last forever. A patient I did a test on not too long ago was 103 years old, I say 103, wow, amazing; and without missing a beat she says ‘it’s a waste of time’! And this is why all season’s must change, when you are tired and feel like you have gone as far as you could go, then we all hope for somewhere new to hang up our coat and begin or end a chapter.
This is a busy time of year to work on the land in Croatia. All those tractors are moving, everything is so fertile. Those farmers, the people that tend to the land, they are strong and hearty people. There is so much physical stamina involved. I helped on a vineyard both in Canada and Croatia; and I have also been on a farm picking arnica flowers which are used in topicals for inflammation and muscle relief. In Croatia it is by invitation and a privilege if you are asked to pick grapes off the vines, it is celebratory like many things in Croatia & there is plenty of food and drink being offered. What I want to point out is all the labour invested in all of this, not just the harvest season but the full farming season. I think many people go to the grocery store and voila, there is the food, not much thought is given for the effort, but for the final price tag, Majko Mila (Literal translation dear mother, but expression is like Good Lord)! But the time, patience, understanding of the land, weather and endurance people have to maintain and provide; if I take a moment and really think about this, it is a very special discipline. I am sure it is also a labour of love, however I really admire those that feed us and keep us alive and in challenging work elements; being at the mercy of Mother Nature or living in harmony with it. I bet there are many things about farming that cannot be outmatched compared to working indoors in another vocation, but at the end of the day that depends on who you speak to. For many people including my great grandparents, grandparents and parents in their earlier years they were considered peasants and they did all they could to feed their families this way and survive. Though my grandparents and parents worked on the land, there was other modes of survival too. One of my mom’s stories was walking all day long with her dad to find this cow for a stock buyer. This man had a factory making sausages and so my djeda’s (grandfather) job was to find this cow and bring it to the buyer. My djeda and mom who was a teenager at this time were given an address to go find this cow by the buyer. My mom said they walked all day long trying to find this cow through the woods and dirt roads, up and down the hills; they went everywhere. My mom expressed how her feet were going to fall off and in the end, they could not find the cow after all and returned to the buyer in another village who was very disappointed, addressed them by their last name and said you didn’t bring me the cow, what will I do now, I could just fall into the crapper! My mom laughs at this part now, but it wasn’t so funny after all that effort. My mom expressed how much her dad loved them (and I still feel how much he loved his grandchildren), that he was such a good man and would go to these markets and bring something home for the kids that artisans had handmade. She expressed how once her twin sister and her went and my djeda bought them shoes that were a few sizes bigger, people didn’t have money in those days so it was to allow room for growth. She said that her father meant well and with all his heart but the shoes were so heavy. Now I am asking myself if she walked in those shoes trying to find that cow, I have to ask her. I like these stories, they give so much meaning to my family and understanding my upbringing. When you think about how much was done on foot, the gruelling work of survival and feeding six children. I wish these stories would be told more often so people could feel them. I know I heard it on a few occasions growing up.
I spoke a little about my interest in migration and so forth but these days I have a fascination of learning exactly where the first Croatian tribes came from. There is some new research, old research, old ideologies, new theories, maybe too many theories, it is all very fascinating, and my head is spinning reading it all but I am so curious. I look at family photos and see the difference between my mother and father. Same village, but one has blond hair, blue eyes, fair skin; the other was black hair, brown eyes, darker skin. Between my brother and I, one of us leans towards one parent in visual appearance and the other towards the other parent. I remember a few times in my life meeting someone who found out my cultural background and said, but Croatian people have a darker skin tone. I had to explain that there is a mix of heights, skin tones and so forth throughout the country. In all of this there can be some similar features in build, eye shape, facial bone structure, but that can vary as well. My brother and I observing a tall NHL hockey player with Croatian roots commenting on how Slavic people can be quite tall especially on the Dalmatian coast, but we did not get the very tall gene; my brothers response was ‘we were farmer’s, we are built low to the ground.’ The most recent research which is DNA based indicates that the first Croatian tribes come from what is now Northern Ukraine and Southern Belarus. It explained that migration was very long with families and communities travelling up to 3000 km on foot. Also it was not a migration due to conquest nor invasion. The first Croatian tribes arrived on the Adriatic coast in the 7th century and according to the Croatian Academy of Science and Arts (HAZU), ‘the movement was a complex process of intermarriage, adaptation and cultural exchange which makes up Central and Eastern Europe today’ (as reported by Croatiaweek). The title of the research article alone is so interesting to me, ‘Ancient DNA connects large scale migration with the spread of Slavs’. Time to do some reading on those beautiful spring mornings before the world wakes up.
And to end this post, if there is something you dream of and want to do one day soon, vjeruj u sebe, believe in yourself or take in the admiring parts of others that have taken that risk now and before you. These people are all around us and are usually happy to share their stories. They are like the diving board to our dreams.
Budi dobro, be well everyone,
Marijana
p.s. May the 4th be with you!
Ale Ale Ale
And the winner of the Eurovision song competition is…….. Bulgaria (with their song Bangaranga)! Do you know what Bangaranga means? Bangarang is Jamaican slang for an uproar, a commotion, a disturbance, chaos, something like this. I could not think of a better word to match its meaning. Even though Eurovision has now passed, Bangaranga is one of those songs that kicks off the sunny weather song hits and what follows it now; Shakira’s World Cup song of course. I love this song because it is actually a word used in Italy and Croatia. Daj in Croatian or Dai in Italian is come on, her song title is Dai Dai, that’s two come on’s. In the song context, it is meant to invoke a motivational spirit, like come on, let’s go! And it does. The lyrics to the song are my anthem for the rest of the year. God bless Shakira, she is especially talented. There is a part in her song where she calls out some of the football (soccer) nations, even though Croatia is one, it did not make it into the song lyrics so at the end of the lyrics run, I add Croatia anyway. Shakira’s song excitement along with Croatian watch parties is the closest I will get to a stadium because what the mascarpone cheese are you thinking charging those ticket prices?! I am surprised that football fans have not created a bangaranga around this. But the fans are winning in other ways, in watch parties. I am looking forward to them. As much as it breaks my heart to not see Hrvatska Nogomet Reprezentacija (Croatian National Football Team) in a live stadium with other supporters, there are ways and feelings to go back to the root of how the majority of people in the world will support their teams. I am rereading Luka Modrić’s autobiography and he said something very special. He dreamed as a child to be the best football (soccer) player in the world and in 2018 received the Balon d’Or (golden ball) football trophy, a great recognition and highest honour for an individual player. He said when he received that trophy and lifted it, in that moment he felt sad inside. The reason; he wanted to bring the World Cup trophy back to Croatia. In 2018 Croatia would place second at the World Cup. Luka Modrić thought about the people in the squares, in the cafe’s, in their homes; he wanted to win the top trophy for the people of Croatia. Those players know that it’s not only the fans in front of them cheering them on, it’s a whole nation and its diaspora. My favourite comment in the many articles surrounding bangaranga ticket mania was ‘I recently saw an 85 inch TV on sale for 600 dollars’, and period. Even through the ticket prices are bananas, there will be ways to find excitement and strip it down to the spirit of sport & community. Ale, ale, ale…….
To go back to the Eurovision song competition, I want to talk about Croatia’s entry because it was an important entry. The group is called Lelek, and the song entered was called Andromeda. Andromeda was a princess in Greek mythology, but the song itself represents the suppression of women that still exists in many parts of the world. These five women who performed wanted to be the voice of those Balkan women who felt they never had a voice. They represented the women that tried, some getting there, some spending all their lives without a voice until their last days; and those that still live with this suppression. Though the Balkans has shown improvements, many of these women throughout their lives experienced a way of life where freedom of expression was hindered and patriarchy was dominant. In Lelek’s performance they are seen with skin art mimicking tattoos. They are mimicking ‘sicanje’ which are tattoos that the Catholic Bosnian Herzegovnian Croat population wore to avert the Turkish Empire (Ottoman Empire) from violence and forced conversion to Islam. Children were also tattooed as a way to protect them from devshirme which the Ottoman Empire did forcibly as a means of soldier recruitment and raising them with Islamic beliefs. I always learn something new about Balkan history and it leaves me wanting to learn more. The song is very powerful, an ethnic pop sound, with beautiful musical layers and the acapella of 5 women’s voices independently and together that reaches inside you. The presentation & the costumes were very intentional and seamless. I did not understand the song initially in terms of its historical significance, but after speaking to a friend in Croatia, and then listening to it a few more times & reading about it, I really understood its power and cultural meaning. Bravo Hrvatska. This song is a winner for life. They & the songwriters themselves honoured a part of Balkan History so beautifully.
And now let’s kick the ball over to something that happens with every Croatian celebration, an abundance of food! Over time people have asked me what is the typical Croatian cuisine, and I can say it varies by region. What is the typical Croatian cuisine? My response is delicious. By region you will see some changes and overlap, but regional cuisine is influenced by seasonal availability and proximity of land source. For example in the area of Istria and Kvarner which is beside Northeastern Italy & Slovenia, you will find pasta, fish, soups, lamb, mussels, risotto mixed with vegetables that are in season and a very popular place to find olives, tartufa (truffles) & asparagus. On the Dalmatian coast you can find a continuation of some of the same cuisine however other things you will find are shrimp, octopus (its name which I love in Croatian is hobotnica), stews with potatoes, green beans and dried pig meat, fish soups, a whole fish with a side of potatoes mixed with chard, black risotto which gets it’s colour from the ink of squid. My mom had this and even if her teeth were black, she enjoyed it and just cleaned her teeth with the lemon peel that came with the dish after she was done. If you ask me I think it is the perfect dish for a first date or if you want to have a serious conversation with someone, and please wear white to complete your evening. Gorski Kotar and Lika which is a mountainous and forested region also known as the green lungs of Croatia has lamb soups, polenta, more lamb dishes, trout, stews with a type of sauerkraut, beans, red peppers, pig fat and garlic. The area my family is from, that is Zagorje, Međimurje, Podravina, is where you will find amazing dishes made from a dough with fresh cheese and other fillings called štrukli, a pita with pumpkin and fresh cheese called bučnica, and more pita pastries with cheese. There are hearty stews with meat, onions, paprika, peppers, tomatoes, sauerkraut, duck, chicken, turkey, cured meats, other meats from pork especially and soups. Soups are very popular in Croatia, even on hot summer days. Lastly Slavonia and Baranja have soups from squash or pumpkin, stuffed pig, stewed meats, meat stew; and I saved the best for last SARMA (cabbage rolls)! Everyone loves sarma and it can vary slightly in the way it is made across Croatia but sarma is the best. Cabbage rolls differ across cultures and sometimes a little in Croatia as some people use tomato sauce in the stewing process, however my family did not. Recently my nephew had a track and field meet and it turns out he’s got some power in those little legs. I sent him a letter saying that I saw some flames coming out the back of his shoes and asked what he ate for breakfast or the night before? Was it palačinka (crepes) with Lino Lada (like Nutella), or Baka’s sarma (cabbage rolls) the night before? I mean all those Croatian kids could really have t-shirts that say sponsored by Baka’s whatever the food might be. There is so much more to Croatian cuisine & I am no expert but I love it. One final thing to add in terms of flavouring and what is used; it is simply onion, garlic, paprika, salt and pepper, and maybe some other herbs like parsley but that’s it. One day I will talk about the desserts because that is a beautiful and special thing as well. There is this new TV show in Croatia that I have tried so much to access about gastronomy in Croatia. It is a beautiful TV show concept, one I wish that was my idea but only respect and many Bravo’s to the dreamers and writers. The show is called Apetitlih and is a travel documentary of food where the hosts travel by train along the routes of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (this is before Croatia and before Yugoslavia), uncovering the stories behind the dishes that have made what is the cuisine of Croatia today. They travel to cities and countries speaking to the cooks themselves, historians and residents, finding the historical, cultural and personal stories behind each dish. This would be a dream job for me! Another thing I just want to end with on this topic is how Slavic people are very good at foraging & hunting for food in the wilderness or simply working hard on agricultural land for their own food they put on the table. My mama and tata (dad) continued this in Canada and I feel like that is a part of me that is lost at the moment, something I wish to recover, something important, something grounding.
And so the World Cup starts tomorrow. Of course everyone has a special place in their heart for a certain team. Of course Canada, Bosnia Herzegovina and Croatia are mine but my dream is for Croatia to get that gold they always fell shy of. The nickname for the Croatian National Football team is called Vatreni. It comes from a Croatian writer and journalist Josip Prudeus. Vatreni means fiery or full of fire. May your time be now Vatreni.
And if the World Cup is not something for you now, enjoy the summer days ahead with some good music, food, friends and family. Živjeli (to life)!
Hajdemo VATRENI!!!
Marijana
June 10, 2026
